Beyond the descriptive-prescriptive cline: Encoding language ideology in in Hobson-Jobson, a Victorian dictionary of Indian English.

Abstract

This paper considers the presence of language ideology in dictionaries through both prescriptive bias and descriptive procedures. To that purpose, it examines the example provided by Hobson-Jobson, a dictionary of Indian English first published in England in 1886, and it investigates how this work encodes imperialistic language ideology. Two major tenets of Victorian language ideology are considered in particular – standard British English superiority and the global status of English – and shown to be overtly or covertly reflected in both the paratexts (title, preface, introductory remarks) and lexicographic text (word list, definitions and translated illustrative quotations). Ideological stance is thus identified in both prescriptive and descriptive procedures, and Hobson-Jobson is thus shown to be a good example of how the ideological bias in dictionaries extends beyond the descriptive-prescriptive cline.